The invention lies in the field of additive manufacturing, in particular the manufacturing of prototypes of ceramic green bodies and relates to the production of a highly dense powder bed and its use for the manufacturing of a solid.
In additive manufacturing methods which are based on the layer-by-layer structure of the starting material as powder, the layer application is an essential process step. As a result of the repeated application of powder layers and the writing of the layer information into the respective layer, a component which is animated in the computer and decomposed into virtual layers is constructed layer by layer from successive powder layers. The complete powder structure constructed by repeated application of layers which includes the component is called powder bed.
The loose powder bulk materials of ceramic particles, metallic and polymer powders which are constructed layer by layer in corresponding powder-based additive manufacturing processes typically have only a low density which on average corresponds to the bulk density of the particles. This makes it difficult to generate a compact component in the additive manufacturing process itself or during a subsequent sintering process. In the case of ceramic powders it is even impossible to obtain a compact component starting from loose bulk materials. Furthermore, the low density of the powder bed brings about a low strength of the powder bed. Therefore a support structure for the component must usually be constructed synchronously with the actual component. The task of the support structure is the fixing of the component with respect to the building platform and therefore in the coordinate system of the installation. The construction of this support structure is time-consuming. Likewise the subsequent removal of the support structure from the actual component after completion of the construction process is time-consuming and typically cannot be automated.